Press Freedom is for Everyone

Today is Press Freedom Day. We, along with dozens of organizations, take this opportunity to highlight the cases of journalists and bloggers in danger around the world. But World Press Freedom day is more than that. Any journalist, online or off, will tell you that their freedom to report depends not just on their own safety, but on the safety of a network of contributors and supporters. Confidential sources risk their jobs, their own freedom, or even their lives to provide the leads that end up as a story. Editors, publishers, and Internet hosting services in many countries share legal risks with reporters when they are threatened with joint liability. Readers, too, are a target: to play their part in press freedom they must feel safe that they can read controversial material without fearing that their choices of reading matter won't be logged and later used against them.

Journalists these days often work closely with technologists who give them the tools to bypass censorship, protect privacy, or reveal hidden patterns that let them tell stories that authorities would rather keep hidden. Target those technologists, and the power of the modern press diminishes. And journalists co-operate with their fellow reporters: sharing tips or expressing solidarity to defend themselves collectively against threats larger than one reporter can handle.

It is not surprising, then, to see criminals and states attempt these days to stifle free speech by sabotaging the complex communities and infrastructure around journalists, or else work harder to mop up entire groups of reporters in an attempt to stem a rising tide of reportage.

So those who want to silence the press do more now than simply target its most prominent voices. In Iran, we've reported about the arrest of the Narenji bloggers, an entire start-up company rounded up after one was suspected of traveling abroad to learn how to practice his trade safely. In Ethiopia, the authorities have swept up six of the country's key independent bloggers and three other journalists in a single week to shut down dissent online.

In the United States, we've seen the government attempt to defeat the judicial protections around journalists and their sources by targeting the data held by the phone companies they use. In conflict zones, the media support network vital for foreign reporters, including their drivers, translators and fixers, are intimidated before and after they visit the country. In Mexico, drug cartels, who have silenced much of the professional coverage of their crimes, stoop to intimidate the discussion forums where citizens gather to trade practical knowledge on their behavior.

Depressing though it is to see this rise in attempts to stop the modern digital presses, the increase in the suppression of press freedom is undoubtedly because the power of reporting has grown, and thus the energy required to silence an unwanted message has also multiplied. Billions can now read a story from a reporter or source, in their own words, wherever on the planet it was first covered. If one report, or one reporter, is suppressed, others can swiftly rise to take their place. The Streisand Effect isn't just for celebrity revelations: it works in response to censorship of all kinds.

Those who oppose press freedom can no longer depend on making an example of one journalist, or shutting down a newspaper or two. Instead they must work to isolate whole nations of potential storytellers from each other.

Sadly, with enough effort and cunning, there are ways to do just that. The most effective is to divide and conquer. The forces of oppression seek to turn one part of the machinery of free expression against another.

The rhetoric of attacks on the free press always denies that their intention is to stop legitimate reporting. So bloggers are described as "not journalists". Social media journalism isn't real journalism, but merely gossip and a threat to family values. Punitive media registration for websites is simply creating a level playing field with traditional news organizations. Online censorship will be aimed only at disreputable sites, not "legitimate" news and commentary. And so on.

On World Press Freedom day, we remember the hundreds of individuals who have personally faced the brunt of the attacks on the press: intimidated, exiled, imprisoned, beaten, and killed as a result of their work. As we do so, we can't afford to bow to others' definitions of who of those are "real" journalists who should be defended, and who are merely acceptable damage in a battle to create a well-mannered, respectable, and pliant press. To defend the freedom of the press, we need to defend the free speech rights of everyone who contributes to that freedom. And that, if our digital technology lives up to its promise, should be everyone.

Related Updates

The U.S. Senate is about to vote on a bill that would be disastrous for online speech and communities. The Allow States and Victims to Fight Online Sex Trafficking Act (FOSTA, H.R. 1865) might sound appealing, but it would do nothing to fight sex traffickers. What it would do...

People in marginalized communities who are targets of persecution and violence—from the Rohingya in Burma to Native Americans in North Dakota—are using social media to tell their stories, but finding that their voices are being silenced online. This is the tragic and unjust consequence of content moderation policies...

It’s no secret: Social media has changed the way that we access news. According to the Pew Research Center, two-thirds of Americans report getting at least some of their news on social media. Another study suggests that globally, for those under 45, online news is now as important...

In a victory for journalism and fair use, Playboy Entertainment has given up on its lawsuit against Happy Mutants, LLC, the company behind Boing Boing. Earlier this month, a federal court dismissed Playboy’s claims but gave Playboy permission to try again with a new complaint, if it...

More than 15 state legislatures are considering the “Human Trafficking Prevention Act” (HTPA). But don’t let the name fool you: this bill would do nothing to address human trafficking. Instead, it would only threaten your free speech and privacy in a misguided attempt to block and tax online pornography...

Frankenstein Bill Combines the Worst of SESTA and FOSTA. Tell Your Representative to Reject New Version of H.R. 1865. The House of Representatives is about to vote on a bill that would force online platforms to censor their users. The Allow States and Victims to Fight Online Sex Trafficking Act...

In a win for free expression, a court has dismissed a copyright lawsuit against Happy Mutants, LLC, the company behind acclaimed website Boing Boing. The court ruled [PDF] that Playboy’s complaint—which accused Boing Boing of copyright infringement for linking to a collection of centerfolds—had not sufficiently established...

In a country where press freedom is already under grave threat, the revocation of an independent publication’s license to operate and a proposed amendment to the Bill of Rights are pushing journalists further into the margins. While the Constitution of the Philippines guarantees press freedom and the country’s media landscape...

A huge range of expressive works—including books, documentaries, televisions shows, and songs—depict real people. Should celebrities have a veto right over speech that happens to be about them? A case currently before the California Court of Appeal raises this question. In this case, actor Olivia de Havilland has sued...